Rolls-Royce is celebrating 10 years of manufacturing at its Goodwood assembly plant, which officially opened on January 1, 2003 at 12:01 a.m. when the first Phantom was delivered. BMW acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce nameplate about five years prior to the opening of the Goodwood plant and first Phantom delivery.

Rolls-Royce employed about 400 people when Goodwood first opened, and the plant produced one Phantom per day. Today, with the less expensive Ghost joining the Phantom, more than 1400 employees churn out as many as 20 cars per day.

Here is a look back at the Rolls-Royce models from Goodwood we’ve driven over the past decade:

Motivation for the new Phantom came from a 453-hp 6.75-liter V-12, derived from a BMW 7 Series engine, mated to a ZF six-speed automatic transmission (also from the 7 Series). BMW’s flagship sedan also provided the basis for the Phantom’s unequal-length control arms front suspension and rear multilink suspension with self-leveling air springs all around.During our First Drive in a 2004 Rolls-Royce Phantom we concluded, “On the road, the Phantom proves it's very much a new Rolls-Royce. Dip into the throttle, and the car romps with an eagerness and intensity that belie its outsized dimensions. Handling, despite a fair amount of body roll, is surprisingly good, and the brakes are reassuringly powerful. The Phantom, for all its regal bearing and luxurious appointments, is a fun car to drive hard.”

While comparing a 2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom to the aging 2005 Bentley Arnage R we said, “BMW has made digitally remastering iconic British automobiles into an art form, and the Phantom is probably its best work yet. It's exactly what you expect a Rolls-Royce to be on the outside – one imperious, outta-my-way, expensive-looking automobile – and it doesn't disappoint when you open the door and climb in.”We were also impressed by the goods from Goodwood with our brief drives of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe and Phantom Coupe. “As we guide the newest Rolls-Royce's proud visage through the lush Italian countryside, we feel as much the captain of a custom-built motor yacht as the driver of a uniquely crafted motorcar,” we said after driving the drop-top Phantom. The Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe “…might be the sportiest Rolls-Royce ever – faster than a Porsche Boxster to 60 mph and boasting a myriad of detail changes to suspension, steering, and transmission tune designed to sharpen its responses – but the Phantom Coupe is first and foremost a luxury car.”

The Ghost is the smaller Rolls-Royce sedan, though the car is still huge. In our 2010 Rolls-Royce First Test, we felt that even though “the Ghost certainly looks the part -- elegant, restrained, and tasteful, but with a powerful road presence ... the BMW DNA isn't as cleverly disguised as it is in the Phantom.” We concluded, “the new Ghost is a stunning piece of work: absurdly fast, impressively quiet, and terrific to look at. It's just that it's not quite as painstakingly true to the Rolls-Royce legend as the Phantom.”While changes to the Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II consist of cosmetic tweaks, an updated iDrive system, and a more efficient eight-speed automatic transmission, we felt the approach worked well: “Cars like the Phantom are as much a personal statement of status as anything, and Rolls got it almost right back in 2003 …The Phantom Coupe, for lack of a better term, is majestic.”Source: Rolls-Royce